Volume 12 • Issue 11 • November 2007

The Drift of the Line

It would be about 15%. . . no, 20%. . . perhaps even 25%. Somewhere in that range, that my thoughts drift into a pocket of my mind that rests aside the other countless concerns of the day. Whatever the percentage, it doesn't make any difference. What it amounts to is that fly-fishing is an important part of my life, and it never ceases to give me a wholesome attraction from all of the other goings-on that consume one's cerebral energies.

I high stick the angle of my rod as the fly floats downstream of a day's passage, and when the slightest perception that something is fiddling with the nymph on my line, I raise my rod higher for any conceivable hook-up. That's the way it goes during the "drift of the line" as day goes its way. All is an analogy of fly-fishing thoughts that come my way. Let me cite a few examples.

Yesterday in the mail I received a copy of a new fly-fishing catalog from Orvis along with the latest issue of the November/December issue of Southwest Fly Fishing. Each presented a diversion from the days chores. I put them on the little table near my recliner. There, when the news either sent me up the walls or bored me toward taking a nap, I could pick up one or the other for a delightful fly-fishing respite–a tug on the line, if you will imagine.

In the Orvis Christmas for Anglers, the tantalizing photographs and descriptions of angling goodies tickled temptations of an order from a very expensive list of items that would never be, except in the pleasure of my imagination. Wasted time? No. It was a most pleasurable diversion. 2% Later on, I would peak at the beautiful photography and artwork in my fresh magazine. Oh, boy!a captivating article on the Guadalupe bass. Highlighted was a quote in larger font that lured me into skimming the complete text: "It is the only member of the sunfish family with its entire range, native or introduced, confined entirely within the confines of the Lone Star state." Written by Craig Springer, a freelance writer and fish biologist living in New Mexico, the article focuses upon the fish's unique features more than any other description I have read. For example, anyone who has trouble distinguishing the Guadalupe bass from spotted bass, smallmouth bass, and other bass would profit from this article. Much more is there for the reading. But I digress. . . just one of those delightful items that take upa percentage of my day. This one, let's see.... I'd think about 5%. Who knows?

During the past week, I made a quick trip to Missouri to pick up my wife, who had spent a couple of weeks there with relatives. I passed not too far from Broken Bow, Oklahoma, where our HCFF outing had been scheduled for October 26th-28th, as I drove toward Missouri on the Indian Nation Turnpike. Too bad that I missed that. I'll see how it went later. For right now, it's just another tip of the hat toward my friends who were not far from my route — part of the drift in my line of thought.Just a neat nibble that took up about 2%.

Oh, yes, a couple of weeks before, while my wife was in Missouri, I was visiting my daughter and family in Phoenix. While there, I was able to check my home page from afar on the computer. To my delight, I found the e-mail from Diane Emshoffthatour treasured fly-fishing friend, Bill, had come through his triple bypass surgery in fine shape. What uplifting news! Great going, pal! 10%.

That brings up a good tug on the line to finish the drift of this cast. I checked out our HCFF bulletin board on the club's website, www.hcff.org, and found that Bill had posted a funny that cracked me up for minutes before I recovered. Here it is, courtesy of Bill:

A fly fisherman appeared before St. Peter at the Pearly Gates.

"Have you ever done anything of particular merit?" St. Peter asked.

"Well, I can think of one thing," the angler offered.

"Once on a trip to the Black Hills out in South Dakota, I came upon a gang of bikers, who were threatening a young woman. I directed them to leave her alone, but they would not listen. So, I approached the largest and most heavily tattooed biker and smacked him in his face, kicked over his bike, ripped out his nose ring, and threw it on the ground. Then, I yelled. 'Now back off!! Or, I'll kick the crap out of all of you!'"

St. Peter was impressed.

"When did this happen?" he asked.

"Just a couple of minutes ago."

I count roughly 21% of my 24-hour day (including sleeping hours during the night too since dreams also count) spent on fly-fishing thoughts as I follow the drift of my line. I'd have to keep track of each day to be accurate, but I'd rather be in the river fishing. No serious fly-fisher would get tied up with such foolishness. Er, uh, maybe this whole article is an adventure in futility, but it's just a thought. . . . Think I'll head for the river now.

–M.A.

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Broad Publicity About Guadalupe Bass Restoration

Bob Miller recently forwarded an e-mail containing information sent to 306 newspapers around the state. The content is as follows:

 The Guadalupe Bass Restoration Project--A joint venture between fly fishing enthusiasts local, state and federal government.

What started as a research project in 1992 by Texas Parks & Wildlife's biologist Gary Garrett, PhD., at the Heart of the Hills Research Station in Mountain Home, Texas, has grown into a five year program whose goal is to raise funds to reintroduce the Guadalupe bass, the Texas state fish, into the Guadalupe River system. Dr. Guy Harrison, a member of the Hill Country Fly Fishers Club learned of the program and enlisted the help of many of the state's fly fishing clubs as well as the Federation of Fly Fishers in Livingston, Montana, and the Southern Council of Fly Fishers located in Mountain Home, Arkansas. The word spread and the Upper Guadalupe River Authority threw their support behind the project as did several Kerrville entities like the Kerrville Visitors & Convention Bureau, the Hill Country Shooting Sports Center and several private donations. With all this support, Texas Parks and Wildlife enlisted the help of the Uvalde National Fish Hatchery to raise the fingerlings from the pure breed brood stock collected by Texas Parks & Wildlife. Over $ 65,000 has been raised or committed for this program by the parties.

The goal of the restocking program is to stock 250,000 fingerlings annually for five years in an effort to reduce the hybridization that has occurred between the small mouth bass, and introduced species, and the Guadalupe bass, a native of several Hill Country streams. The Guadalupe bass is one of the scrappiest game fish in our rivers. It does not reach the size of the big lake bass but is a superb game fish on light weight fly or spinning tackle as well as having the honor of being the Official State Fish of Texas.

This effort has seen the joining of forces of diverse groups both private and various levels of government to accomplish a goal that has benefits to each group as well as the public. Success will be measured by the smiles of the faces of young and old as they enjoy fishing our Texas rivers. More information is available from the following resources:http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/species/gdb/; www.tpwd.state.us; www.hcff.org; www.kerrvilletexassvb.com.

 

Continuation of A Back Cast of Memories

1998

June

1998 Texas Fly Fishing Show Another Success

For the third time in a row, the highly successful Texas Fly Fishing Show attracted long rod anglers from both near and far. The smoke from our neighbors of the south might have stifled numbers a bit, but attendance was still judged to be above that of previous years. Regular repeats of popular classes and exhibitors were enhanced by new additions that brought forth newcomers and second and third timers. This event is a huge undertaking. Help from members of our club along with the Alamo Fly Fishers of San Antonio is much appreciated as is the money contributed to both clubs by organizer, Bob Miller, who once again deserves highest praise for making this fly fishing showcase possible.

July

Y.M.C.A. Fishing Class in Progress

As of Tuesday, July 7, three sessions of the Y.M.C.A. Fly fishing Class have been conducted with eight youngsters participating enthusiastically. Gary Davidson led the first session during which he explained the basics of fly casting techniques. The group then had a practice exercise in nearby Louise Hays Park. At the second gathering, Mike Andrews had the group tie the Duncan Loop using Dave Whitlock's technique from the reel to the fly with the exception of a Double Surgeon's knot to tie on tippet material. Then Donnie Bunch used his "think like a fish" theme to explain the basic types of flies. His comprehensive handout along with a collection of the various types of flies were extremely effective. Gary Davidson took over again at the third meeting and discussed rod and line weights, characteristics of different rods and their uses, and the various types of lines available. More casting practice at the park concluded the meeting. A fishing outing is being scheduled to wind up this highly successful project. The following members have participated in helping conduct our meetings: Gary Davidson, Donnie Bunch, Walter Saunders, Clay Cordon, Henry Brown, Rick Cunningham, and Mike Andrews.

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From FFF ClubWire. . .

Casting Tips and Tricks with Jason Borger
Tensing and Relaxing

Regardless of whether you're gripping a single-handed rod or a double-handed rod, there are two things you can do to help you control your casts better: tensing and relaxing. If you tense your grip slightly as you prepare to stop the rod, it helps to "lock" the muscles and tendons in your arm and wrist. That, in turn, allows you to more easily bring the rod to a halt. One caveat: don't clamp down so hard that you leave fingerprints in the cork. Just a slight squeeze will do the trick.

Relaxing is just what it sounds like: relaxing the muscles in your hand and arm after the cast has been made. Relaxing not only takes tension away from your muscles, but also helps to dampen any aftershocks in the fly rod. Such a damping action will assist in creating smoother line flow through the air. The idea with relaxing isn't to get so loose that the rod falls to the ground. The idea is to just slightly open the fingers that are curled around the rod handle–just enough to remove a bit of tension and to allow the rod a frog's hair of lee-way.

Try a bit of tensing and relaxing the next time you cast. You may find it allows you to be more controlled more easily. And the more control you have, the more precisely you can get the fly to the fish.

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2008 FFF Affiliate Club Dues Notices

FFF Affiliate club dues notices were mailed out on October 15th, 2007. Dues will be due on January 1st, 2008. The current dues structure is as follows: $ 100.00 base rate plus $ 2.00 per non-FFF club member (non-FFF member means that they are not a current individual member of the FFF). Maximum dues for the year are $ 500.00.

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